Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. WATER, SEWER, STORMWATER, AND FLOOD CONTROL SERVICES. FEE STRUCTURES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Establishes alternative process for local government to impose fees for water, sewer, stormwater, and flood control services, as defined, without voter approval. Authorizes fee structures that recover reasonable costs of providing service, encourage water conservation and resource management, and provide fee reductions for low-income households. Requires notice of and public hearing on proposed fees. Allows fee payers to prevent proposed fee by majority filing written protests. Prohibits use of fee revenues for other purposes. Requires independent audit of revenues and expenditures. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased local government revenues and spending for flood control services and stormwater management in the range of low hundreds of millions of dollars up to more than $1 billion annually, depending on future actions by local governing boards and voters. (15-0116.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1775 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0116.

The proponents of the measure, Christopher McKenzie, Tim Quinn, and Matthew Cate, must collect the signatures of 585,880 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by August 16, 2016. The proponents can be reached c/o Lance H. Olson and Richard Miadich at (916) 442-2952.